


Again

by lar_laughs



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-13
Updated: 2010-08-13
Packaged: 2017-10-11 01:50:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/107001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lar_laughs/pseuds/lar_laughs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remus intends to let alcohol soothe his weary soul for one more night.  Written for a Valentine's Day 2007 challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Again

"Another one, my good man."

Tully, the scruffy and unkempt man behind the bar, was more than willing to pour out a pint for the right price but looked dubious at the man who was sitting on the stool in front of him. Sitting was a strong word. Gravity was this man's friend tonight. While his words were barely slurred, there was a good case for drunkenness in every other aspect of the man's appearance. The color of his money was good, though, and so another shot made it into the cup with barely a drop spilled.

Normally there were more customers on a dank and dreary night such as this but most of them were doing their duty to their wives or mistresses. Tonight was the night for lovers. The night dedicated to Saint Valentine, the man who had gotten rid of snakes in Ireland (vile little island full of uncouth vagrants and renegades, or so Tully's mum had always told him) and invented the four leaf clover. Or something like that. It was all very bad for business but he was hoping to make it up tomorrow. They would be back, of that he was sure.

"You know what's wrong with love?" the drunk man asked, his hands gesturing wildly about even though one was holding onto a glass and the other was clutching the remains of a biscuit that scattered bits about with each sweep. "I'll tell you."

Putting the bar rag down, Tully stepped forward and waited to be enlightened. He'd been in love once. Deuced lot of good it had done him. The girl's father had come home early and that had been the end of that. Plus he'd had to pack up and leave his comfortably warm room behind just when winter had set in.

When the man still didn't answer, Tully volunteered a response. "Women are a nuisance. Get in the way."

"What?"

"Women. They're a nuisance." Tully tucked the bar rag into the waistband of his jeans and leaned forward, wondering if the man was going completely barmy. He looked positively shocked, as if he had no idea what Tully was talking about. This, he reasoned, was why he didn't talk to customers or get involved in their lives. Too damned confusing. Now that he'd started, he felt the need to continue on until this man was out of his hair. "I think you might need to sleep this off, mate. There's a couple of rooms for rent down the block, most of them by the hour but I think you can get one for the rest of the night. Not much of it left so it should come cheap."

The man straightened, his eyes trying to focus behind the shaggy light hair that hung in front of his face. From time to time, as he composed himself, he tried to wipe the hair away but only succeeded in adding bits of cookie to the mess. "Women are gentle and loving creatures. Your mother, good man, is a woman."

"Don't bring my mum into this," Tully growled, not liking that this was getting personal.

"Exactly. You love your mother. And who wouldn't? She's probably a wonderful woman. You know who isn't a wonderful woman?"

Once again, the man asked a question and failed to answer it. His head fell forward and Tully wondered if he had fallen asleep on the chair. Couldn't be good for the blokes back but who was he to say how the fellow would feel in the morning. As long as he was gone by the time the doors were locked, he could sleep here as well as anywhere else. And maybe, if he was asleep, there might be a few coins extra lying in his pocket easy for the taking.

Tully had licked his lips and leaned closer when he heard the front door open. No concern of his since he'd be done in a scant second and could serve then just as easily as following the new customer to his seat. There were some coins there. He could feel the tiny bit of magic they let out and no one should get between and man and his rightful income.

"Excuse me but shouldn't you be cleaning a glass instead of trying to rob my friend?"

The shadow wasn't menacing as Tully lifted his head to argue that he was just helping himself to a tip. Dark eyes flashed and Tully felt the affects of the spell almost as soon as he saw the evil glint in their smoky depths. Too late he realized he'd gotten between a man and his obsession. Should have stuck to pouring drinks and ignoring his customers, like usual. Too late now...

***

Severus was finding it exceedingly difficult to carry his burden into the house. Although he'd had little troubling leading Remus out of the horrible little dive he'd found to drown his sorrows and pick up a few stray lice, he'd decided to get belligerent when it came to Apparating. It had been easy enough to use the same spell he'd used to dispose of the thief behind the bar but that meant he had to throw the unconscious man over his shoulder and he hated to Apparate with another person. Made him feel like he was at more of a risk for losing a body part.

"Hate her," Remus muttered, shaking his head back and forth on the pillow almost as soon as he'd dropped him on the bed. Count on him not to stay unconscious under such an easy spell.

"Hate who?" Severus asked, more out of duty's sake to keep up the other side of the conversation with the infuriating man. He knew very well who he meant.

"Her," Remus raged, shouting so loud that there was a slight ringing in the air when he finally sagged back against the bed. He went back to whispering now that he had hurt his own head. "How could you have mixed that right in front of me? And you gave it to her on Valentine's Day?"

Severus turned away to keep the smile hidden. He never thought he'd see the day that Remus Lupin was jealous. If he'd known this was the way to accomplish it, he would have taken on this job much sooner. Not only could he use the money but now he was seeing firsthand the green monster leaping out of Remus' soul and not just as a reflection in his own like usual.

"Did you know that I cared about her before this? Was I obvious about it?"

"Who cares if you were obvious? You are never obvious. You, my dear Severus, are as shaded and hidden as a... a..." but he'd obviously lost his train of thought, something unheard of when he was in his right mind. Just another reason he shouldn't drink. Some men weren't built for that sort of thing.

The liquid in the cauldron was bubbling. This wasn't where he would have liked to mix together this particular potion but he needed to keep a close eye on it. Killing two birds with one stone wasn't nearly as easy as the old proverb made it out to be. Clearly the original intent of the saying hadn't meant dividing one's attention between the means of supporting himself for the next several weeks and keeping a drunk man from rolling off the narrow bed.

"You've got other places to be tonight. Why were you drowning your sorrows, Lupin?" he asked caustically, his temper getting the better of him. He lived in squalor and feared for his life every moment of the day, eager to keep the hounds of the Ministry from nipping at his heels before he could be cleared of wrong doing. Remus, on the other hand, was still free to move around and continue living a life he deemed to be ruined by the mere fact that he wasn't normal. It was an old fight and one that neither of them won and both of them lost.

"What do you care?"

"I care that you sound like a three year old when you act like this. Why aren't you with the pack? Why were you spying on me?" Severus really wanted to know why he hadn't felt like he could come out into the open today instead of watching the transaction in a hidden location. He'd seen him, of course. The man had never learned how to hide effectively. Pity because his tracking skills were so extraordinary. To have both skills would be an asset.

Again, Remus muttered something that only made this sullen act churlish and idiotic. Didn't the man realize that he was being obvious - the very thing he'd accused him of?

He'd had enough. Walking over the bed and leaving his potion to take care of itself, he leaned over the man stretched out. Their breath mingled, not nearly as pleasant an experience as it could have been. "Let's get one things straight. I have many clients. Yes, clients. I don't know where you got the idea that any woman has caught my fancy to the extent that I needed to give her a love potion to win her affections. What you saw was a business transaction. The local baker's daughter has decided she's in love with some software engineer and needed the extra insurance. I, on the other hand, know how affection works and don't need to use cheap tricks to get what I want."

"Cheap tricks," Remus gasped as if he was suddenly having trouble breathing. For a moment, Severus wondered if he'd have to thump the man on the chest to start his body operating normally again but the intake of air was suddenly turned into an explosive shout of laughter. "You are the master of cheap tricks."

"Explain yourself."

It took a moment for Remus' laughter to die down enough so that he could concentrate on the words that were rapidly becoming hard to form on his well-formed lips. The oddity of the situation wasn't lost on Severus, who was used to being talked to death by this man on many occasions.

"It's been weeks since you've contacted me. You set this whole thing up so that I would be in your bed once again."

"Your logic has gone the way of your good sense. If I wanted you, all I would have to do would be to ask. What good are you to me stinking drunk?"

"I miss you so much."

Severus pulled away as a tear formed in the corner of Remus' eye. This story would be hard enough to tell in the morning without having to relate such embarrassing bits. "We'll discuss this tomorrow. Get some sleep."

"But it won't be Valentine's Day tomorrow. It's the day for lovers." He began to laugh hysterically again but Severus went back to his cauldron. As it was, it would be a long time until dawn for one of them. This potion might be salvageable.

***

"Close the curtains, would you?"

Severus looked up from the book he'd propped against the jam pot. "Close them yourself. I didn't take away your wand last night although I should have."

"Was I that bad?"

"You don't remember?"

The man certainly looked miserable but it was hard to tell if the aftereffects of the liquor had put the lines on his face or if that was just the newest look for Remus. His antics with the clan were aging him quickly. He put his head in his hands before Severus could do more than give him the most cursory of glances.

"The last thing I remember is calculating how drunk I could get with the coins I had with me."

"And you did a fine job of it, too."

"Don't think I'm missing the censure in your voice, Severus. Your displeasure with me is clear. I was a naughty boy. Consider me sufficiently chastised for my wrongdoing."

It was hard to hide the smile at the thought of what other things should happen to naughty boys but Severus wasn't ready to forgive and forget so easily. "You forget that I spent a sleepless night hard at work on my potions while you slept the night away like a babe. You haven't come anywhere close to proper chastisement."

The pain Remus was dealing with was blurring his sharp retorts but they still bantered back and forth for another moment before Remus stumbled to the table and picked up the second mug of steaming coffee. He drank greedily, not caring that the liquid was surely burning his lips and tongue, and left the table as soon as he was done. The door to the small water closet closed but Severus kept his attention on the book in front of him and not the man rapidly returning to the world of the living. It would do no good, after all. He never stayed for long.

"Are you going to tell me what prompted this?" Severus asked as he came into the room once again, a towel thrown around his shoulders for no other reason than to keep the water from his hair running down and possibly cleaning the shirt he was wearing. It had definitely not see a washerwoman's pot recently.

"And why would I? We've never talked about either of our little episodes before. Why start now?"

Before Remus had a chance to sit down, Severus stood up and walked to stand in front of him. "Maybe I want to change that. Have you ever thought that I don't like to find you on that bar stool time after time?"

"I don't like to find you all closed-off and silent with a tendency to use what few words you do say to wound. What do you have to say about that?'

He didn't say anything. Instead, he leaned forward and put a hand on either side of his lover's head. It was no great distance to lean down but he took it slowly, savoring the intake of breath and the way Remus' eyes went wide before lowering in anticipation.

"Say it again like that," Remus whispered.

Because he was feeling generous, Severus complied. Sometimes it wasn't a bad thing to take orders.


End file.
